


Amor Eterno

by Owlwithafringe



Series: The Merlin Arts Fest [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Established Relationship, Everyone knows about Merlin's magic except Uther, Good morgana, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Prompt: Enchantment, Spells & Enchantments, The Merlin Arts Fest 2014, Uther is still the King
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 19:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1911375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlwithafringe/pseuds/Owlwithafringe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur's been enchanted by a love potion. Again. Except this time it isn't some random Princess from a far-away land that's visiting Camelot that he's fallen in love with.</p><p>It's Merlin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amor Eterno

**Author's Note:**

> For the first prompt for 'The Merlin Arts Fest 2014' I decided to do the three word prompt. I decided to do 'Enchanted'. Amor Eterno means Eternal Love. A big thanks to tumblr user Colinmorgain for organizing this whole event. :) Also a huge ass thanks to my dear friend Katie for helping me and kicking my ass through the night to get this finished.

Merlin found it completely and utterly unfair that out of everyone in Camelot, hell, even everyone in the five Kingdoms of Albion that all the bad things seemed to happen to him. He seemed to have the most impossibly bad luck. Merlin couldn't understand what he had done to deserve such bad luck. He always tried to do the right thing. It made him ponder if he had been an extraordinarily bad person in another life.

How else could he explain it? Why else would this always happen to him? 

Arthur, it seemed was particularly susceptible to being enchanted by love potions. It seemed he was a magnet to pissed off, power hungry witches. And of course Merlin as always was there to clean up the mess. Now this would be easily enough handled if he been enchanted to fall in love with some visiting princess, but no, either this witch had a horrible sense of humor or was actually slightly smarter than the average revenge seeking magic user. 

This is because for whatever reason she decided to take a different route to the crown. Instead of using the usual princess, she'd decided to make the token of Arthur's affections, Merlin.

It was smart, Merlin could give her that. After all, they spent most of their time together. What she probably didn't bet on was that the Prince's manservant happened to be the most powerful warlock to ever walk the Earth. You win some, you lose some Merlin supposed.

However this made his life so much more unnecessarily harder. 

For one thing it was odd to wake up in the morning and find a love letter waiting outside your door. It wasn't signed which made Merlin slightly suspicious but it was pleasant to feel appreciated. However it was awfully written, all clumsy and cliched. All the same he liked the thought.

For another thing it was quite a shock for Merlin when he went to get Arthur up and dressed for breakfast to find him already up. Not just up but dressed and sitting at his desk writing poetry. _Poetry_. 

Merlin stood there for a moment gaping at the sight with the tray of fruit and bread sitting awkwardly in his hands when Arthur looked up from his muttering about what rhymes with moon. Merlin discovered that it was apparently swoon, after Arthur had recited it to him after spotting him standing there. The traumatic experience made Merlin shudder just thinking about it.

Merlin wasn't sure if Arthur was being serious or not. In fairness to Merlin, he hadn't given Merlin much context to the poem. He'd just gone a head and read it to him.

So Merlin just carried on as usual, ignoring the weird atmosphere. He started tidying up Arthur's things, ignoring all the odd looks coming from Arthur. As soon as he found an excuse to get the hell out of there, he did. He gave a stuttering sentence about Gaius needing his help before back pedaling out of the door faster than you can say 'magic is outlawed'.

But if Merlin thought he had escaped Arthur and his oddness then he was sorely mistaken. He was walking down a hallway about an hour later, on his way to see if Gaius actually needed his help when Arthur stepped out of an alcove and grabbed his arm and pushed him against a wall, with a sickening sweet look in eyes that Merlin felt that should never, ever be directed at him.

"Oh Merlin, my love, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you since you left me after breakfast." 

Merlin of course was understandably confused. First of all the Prince of Camelot had called him 'my love'. Second of all, Arthur had appeared out of no-where and manhandled him against the wall.

Now there were many ways Merlin could react to this. Merlin for one could ask Arthur what the hell he was doing. For another he could push Arthur away and carry on with his daily life and forget that this had ever happened. But Merlin knew for a fact that ignoring problems, unfortunately didn't make them go away. 

So obviously, he went with the most eloquent solution.

"Huh?"

Arthur smiled, those annoying dimples appearing and a fond expression resting on his face.

"I thought we could go on a romantic picnic for lunch today in the forest. Just the two of us. With wine and cheese and blankets. Doesn't it sound splendid?" 

Merlin reiterated his eloquence once again. 

" _Huh?"_

"A picnic, dear Merlin." Arthur repeated slower, as if he was talking to a fool or child. At least some things didn't change. He continued more idly, "You know you look most beautiful in the forest, like a Pixie Prince of some sort. I can't believe I never noticed."

Merlin luckily at that moment decided to gather his wits, for the most part anyway.

"A picnic? That sounds lovely.. but Sire but i'm required to help Gaius prepare some particular potions today."

A small frown suddenly appeared on Arthur's face along with a pout.

"But surely it can wait, or he can someone else to do it? I am the Prince of Camelot and I want you to have lunch with me. And as Prince of Camelot what I say goes."

Merlin flinched slightly, and tried a different tact. He replied delicately, choosing his words well. "That really does sound lovely Arthur but i did promise Gaius I'd help him. It's the least I can do for him after all he's done for me. And he isn't as young as he used to be so he does require help from time to time."

Merlin waited anxiously for the Prince's reply. He let out the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding when a smile replaced Arthur's frown.

"Oh of course Merlin. You are so kind and generous, I'm so lucky to have you." 

Merlin slowly tried to edge his way out from Arthur, nodding as he did so.

"Yes, yes you are. Tell you what," he bargained as he tried to wiggle himself free from where he was trapped against Arthur's solid form, realising he needed to get help with this Arthur love potion scenario. He ignored how it made him feel and plunged on. "How about a picnic tomorrow? After I've helped Gaius?"

Arthur's face, which had been rapidly falling, brightened again instantly and he pressed Merlin harder into the wall in his excitement.

"Really?!" He exclaimed before lunging forward and catching Merlin's lips - very briefly and innocently - in a kiss. "Oh, you are the very best of men Merlin! I shall arrange everything, my love. Just be ready in the courtyard for me at breakfast tomorrow. We shall spend the entire day together. Just us alone in the woods."

And with that, Arthur was gone, practically skipping down the passageway, bumping into Lancelot and started gushing to him about how brilliant and kind Merlin was.

Merlin sagged against the wall, stunned for a moment, before his eyes widened and he took off running down the corridor, yelling as he did so. "Gwen! _Gwen!_ "

\---

Merlin found Gwen in Morgana's chambers cleaning. He burst through the door rather spontaneously giving Gwen an awful shock. In a panic, he dragged her to sit on Morgana's bed and started explaining what had happened.

Gwen nodded patiently, being her usual angelic self whilst Merlin babbled himself into a fit. After Merlin had finished his tale and was taking some deep breaths to calm himself, Gwen surmised out loud what he had said.

"So Arthur's under a love enchantment, with you being the one he's in love with?"

'Yes, it's awful Gwen. He's sending me love letters and poetry. _Poetry_. He compared my eyes to the moon, which 'made him swoon.'"

Gwen giggled at Merlin's current misfortune, failing to comfort him. 

Merlin groaned. "Gwen, you traitor. You're supposed to be helping, not laughing at me."

This of course is when Morgana decided to sweep gracefully into her chambers, being utterly the Princess that she was. Her lilting tones filtered through as she began to talk to Gwen presuming she was alone, when she stopped and took in the sight before her.

Her maidservant, and close friend was sitting laughing on her bed whilst Arthur's manservant sat next to her, head in hands groaning. Frowning she placed on her hands on her hips.

"What's going on?" She questioned.

Gwen grinned. "Arthur's in love with Merlin. Except he isn't. It's a love potion."

Merlin often ignored Arthur when he spoke of Morgana, for it wasn't usually flattering things he said. But for once he agreed. He could understand where he was coming from, because as soon as Gwen had uttered those words, Morgana's postured changed immediately and she burst out laughing.

Merlin groaned even louder. "You guys are supposed to be my friends. You know what, I'll just go and get Gaius to help me."

Morgana, the respectable lady of the court, of course sobered up at that, suddenly becoming business like. She came and sat down on the other side of Merlin, arranging her green skirts into a comfortable position before talking Merlin's hand in hers.

"No, you're right Merlin. Of course, we'll help. It's just the thought of Arthur under a love potion that amuses myself so much. I suppose we should be used to it by now though. But tell us, what can we do?"

"What we need to do is find the right spell, and then we'll be able to reverse it correctly. The thing about love potions and enchantments, is that there are so many. And they're all so complicated."

"So..?" Gwen prompted.

"How do you two feel about spell books?"

\---

Merlin coughed as a cloud of dust flew up from the heavy spell book that he had just put on the table before him. He had a stack of books also piled up next to him, also looking as foreboding as the one in front of him. The two girls were lounging on Merlin's bed, spell books on their laps, flicking through the pages once in a while.

He had read only about twenty pages into the first book when there was a tap on the door. Merlin was grateful for the distraction but he was worried it would be Arthur. Merlin couldn't deal with Arthur being the way he was acting whilst he trying to find a cure for him. He wasn't sure he'd even be able to look Arthur in the eyes again after what had happened. 

Merlin pulled the door open to find Lancelot standing outside.

"Lancelot?" Merlin asked puzzled. It was of course nice to see his friend, but it seemed odd that he would show up out of the blue like that. 

Lancelot pushed gently passed Merlin and into Gaius' chambers. An urgency came across in his voice, and there was a determination in his gait.

"Merlin, I thought that I should inform you that I believe that the Prince Arthur is under a love spell of some sort. He was acting very peculiar earlier and.." Lancelot paused for a breath and glanced around, only then spotting the piles of books and Morgana and Gwen tucked up in Merlin's room with their own books. They both gave him a small wave, as Lancelot backtracked his thoughts. "And you already know all this. Of course you do."

Merlin smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm very good at what I do."

Lancelot raised an eyebrow but carried on none the less. "What can I do to help?"

Merlin smiled again, this time though with a more sinister edge. He sat back down at the bench and gathered an armful of books and dropped them on the opposite side of the table to him. 

An even larger dust cloud erupted from the books than before. 

"You know what they say," Merlin began, "A problem shared is a problem halved."

Lancelot winced but sat down anyway and began digging into the books. They had only shared a few moments of silence when Merlin spoke up again.

"Lancelot, how did you know that Arthur was enchanted?"

A small smile quirked on his lips. "He said that you were kind and magnificent. I don't believe that's something he'd ever say about you in his right mind."

Merlin huffed out a small laugh. It was true. Arthur would never say something like that, whether he believed it to be true or not.

The silence then resumed, only the sounds of bustling courtyard next to them coming through the window as the four unlikely friends - The Servant, The Knight, The Lady and The Warlock, as they searched for the answer to their problem.

\---

Night had fallen over the kingdom hours ago, the snores of his friends filled his ears, all fallen asleep at some point during their search - all refusing to give up until sleep had claimed them. The only light now was of the candle he had stationed next to him. Merlin himself was half asleep. His hair was mussed up like he had repeatedly run his fingers through it. Merlin refused to give into the temptation of sleep.

He pulled back from the book, stretching his arms and yawning. He mused over how the spell could have been done in the first place. He had been over all the obvious ones. There hadn't been any hair involved, or just chanting spells, or hex bags (he'd checked for all of them in Arthur's rooms earlier) which should have really narrowed it down, but it narrowed it down to a point where it was near on possible to think of another way that the enchantment could have gotten to Arthur.

Merlin paused, a thought suddenly striking him. 

The only logical thing it could be would be a potion of some sort, but that was still a rather wide range of spells. 

Merlin tried to remember anything that could help him, narrow it down further. There hadn't really been anything out of the ordinary other than Arthur wanting to jump his bones. Except.. there had been a faint smell of strawberries in the Prince's chambers. Merlin recalled thinking it was odd because Arthur hadn't had breakfast yet. 

Could it have been the potion? The strawberry thing, definitely was ringing a bell in Merlin's head.

Merlin swung around to the pile of books, a finger caressing the spines until he found the book he was looking for. He pulled it from the pile and opened it, quickly glancing at index before flicking through it until he finally found the page which could hold the key to his problem.

He read the words speedily, an ever-growing grin lighting up his face.

_Amor Eterno is a powerful love potion. The potion is specifically aimed at a particular person, unlike some which simply trigger upon the first person the consumer sees. If the potion is done correctly then the finished product should be a clear liquid, with the aroma of strawberries. The clear liquid is subtle, would be undetectable if it wasn't for the associated smell. It is usually put in the drink of the intended, but some put it in food, or even as eye drops. Whilst the potion is incredibly potent, there is a counteract potion which can be used to end the spell._

Merlin skimmed over the ingredients needed for the counteract potion, becoming ever the more joyful as he discovered that he was confident that Gaius had all the required ingredients in stock. 

With a cheerful relief that this would soon all be over, Merlin began to start work on his concoction.

\---

A soft voice called Merlin back into the land of living. The warm, yet blurry face of Gwen looked down upon him.

"Wha-?" Merlin tried asking, still half asleep.

"Lancelot had to go to training, and Morgana already left at some point last night. Apparently Arthur tried to start serenading you from outside your window. Gaius has already left too, to the lower town. He told me to let you know that he expects you two to have a chat about what's been going on over dinner tonight. Oh, and some flowers were left for you."

"Urgh. Oh joy." Merlin face planted his head back onto the table.

"I have to go to my own duties now," Gwen carried on talking, like Merlin had never spoken. "As I think, should you. After all, it seems you were successful in your endeavor. Have a good day Merlin." 

Merlin slowly looked up from his vantage point of the table, catching a glimpse of Gwen's yellow dress from the day before as she left through the door, and to what was clutched in his hand.

It was a small vial of clear liquid, and the solution to his problem.

\---

Merlin hurried to Arthur's chambers, only detouring on the way by the kitchen to pick up some breakfast for his Prince. Balancing the tray in one hand he tipped the contents of the vial into Arthur's goblet, before stashing it away in a pocket, hidden.

Merlin decided not to knock but to just go in. 

Inside the room, he found Arthur awake again, and sitting glumly on one of the chairs at the dining table. His face however, little up when he saw Merlin. 

He jumped up, quickly grabbing the tray and putting it on the table, and swept Merlin into a bear hug, arms tightening around Merlin in such a way that he struggled to breathe.

"Merlin my love, it has been too long since we saw each other last. I have missed you dearly. Did you get my flowers, and enjoy my serenade?" Arthur asked eagerly. 

Merlin stepped back from the embrace. "Oh, yes, of course. It was very.. um. Sweet?"

Arthur grinned with a love-struck look in his eyes. "Yes, it was wasn't it? Like today is going to be. Oh, my moon and stars, we must leave immediately for our picnic."

Merlin began to panic. He had to act fast or else his plan would fail.

"The picnic is for lunch. I insist that you have breakfast. Most important meal of the day and all?"

"But Merlin..-"

Merlin put a firm hand of Arthur's arm and tugged him down to a seat next to his silver breakfast tray. "No, m'lord. Let me serve you breakfast. Let me repay you for your kind tokens." 

This seemed to put Arthur at ease.

"Oh, when you put it that way. You really are so caring about other people Merlin."

Behind Arthur, Merlin rolled his eyes, but watched in anticipation as the blonde began to eat his breakfast, and drink from his cup.

Arthur was half way through a bite when he suddenly stopped, eyes glazed over. The potion must have been working. A second later, the Prince seemed to come to his senses again, shaking himself slightly as he squinted around in confusion before his gaze landed on Merlin. A look of horror radiated from his face as he began to piece together what had happened.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes. _My love_." Merlin snickered. 

Arthur pointed an indignant finger at Merlin. "You, you can shut up. I was very romantic."

Merlin considered it. "Yeah, I suppose you were. It was weird."

"Are you saying i'm not usually romantic?" Arthur huffed.

Merlin pretended to consider this too, before he settled on a non-committal, 'meh', barely containing his laughter. The taller man, closed the space between the two men, coming up to where Arthur was sitting. 

"Now that you're no longer under the influence it means I can do this."

He leaned into the other man's space and caught him in a kiss, a whole lot less innocent than the one in the hallway.

"Why'd you wait?" Arthur asked, when they had pulled away.

"You were under a love enchantment. If I'd done that whilst that was going, I would've been taking advantage of you."

"Ever the noble knight, eh?" Arthur teased.

The couple then embraced, contented just to be close to one another, murmuring insults to each other, the one may use an endearment.

"I am glad to have you back. Prat."

"Clotpole."

"Dollophead."

"Cabbagehead."

"Idiot."

"My Prince."

"My Warlock."

Yes, Merlin supposed, he must of had been awful in another life to deserve this.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave kudos and comments, feedback is always appreciated and motivates me to write more! Come and find me on Tumblr at **[jimkivk](http://jimkivk.tumblr.com/)** , or if you're a book fan, come and find my book blog, **[williamherxndale](http://williamherxndale.tumblr.com/)**. (◡‿◡✿)


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